Jarod Lucas “Take It to the Hole” Breaks CIF-SS Career Scoring Record
Snap, snap, snap. Like the twitching of his wrist on his shot, the public has only seen snap shots of coverage by the LA Times and a few other media outlets on a new scoring record set by Jarod Lucas.
But I truly believe that Jarod’s accomplishment is like climbing Mt Everest and it deserves a complete story, more than just a snap shot. We’re pulling up the hood on Jarod, showing the inside MRI of why and how he showed the guts to dream the impossible dream.
#Jarod is Agent 0
This past Thursday the affable 6-3, 180 lb combo guard from Los Altos High eclipsed the CIF-SS career scoring record of 3,284 points held by former Glendora High/Stanford star Casey Jacobsen.
Jacobsen had held the record since 1999, which is ironic because it was about the same year one boy named Jarod Lucas was born, one special youngster who just scored one point over 3,284 to complete the circle at 3,285.
Never heard of Jacobsen? He was a 6-7 scoring fool, and I say that as a compliment for Jacobsen who was in the NBA and is now a media analyst for FOX Sports.
Jarod had dreamed of breaking Jacobsen’s record for a long, long while.
Most prep kids are lucky to score 20 points in a game, and they fantasize about scoring a 40 ball in their slumber. But to average a 40 ball for a season like Jarod just did? And average like 31 ppg over 4 years? That’s alternate universe stuff.
How many Cali prep players have averaged 26.4, 24.7 and 26.2 points per game from their freshman through junior seasons like J-Lucas? Not many. J entered his senior campaign knowing he needed to score almost 40 ppg to break that record.
Did his caring and nurturing dad Jeff Lucas, the longtime coach at Los Altos, think his boy could put up those numbers when Jarod asked him right before the season? No, not at first. Jeff thought it might just be unrealistic.
That preseason convo between J-Lucas and his dad/coach must’ve been something because Jarod recalled it with a certain amount of emotion.
I’ll just let him explain, “When my dad told me he thought it was impossible for me to average 40 a game this season to complete my longtime goal of breaking the record, I just went out to the driveway and shot all night.
“I searched inside myself, realized I needed to prove to him it could be done, to the world that ‘impossible was possible’. I never doubted myself, and that if you just work hard enough, believe in something enough, you can just will it into existence.”
Who does Jarod emulate, appreciate as a player? He’ll tell you, “I love watching Trae Young before I play each game. It pumps me up, I draw inspiration from Trae’s confidence.
“I just told myself if I have enough confidence in my jumper and game like Trae does in his, that means anything is possible, even averaging 40 a game for a season.”
I kept asking Jarod, “How did you feel that last game, the moment you broke the record, what went through your mind bro?” Jarod kept telling me the word “Tired”, so tired like he didn’t think anyone could ever feel quite that tired.
Remember, not only did J have to score 52 points going into that final game, he also had to score 101 points in the final 2 games. Pressure? Tired? His situation was the definition of both.
Why was getting this record important to Jarod? It wasn’t vanity, you need to know. He wanted to dedicate that record to all the special people that helped him on his journey. This record was more than just for himself.
Jarod learned the game not only from his awesome dad Jeff, but also from his mom Tina’s dad, Richard Dagampat, who was a great prep coach in his day.
It was 5 years ago in 8th grade for Jarod, right before Richard passed away, that Jarod promised himself that he’d use all that his grandpa taught him: be classy while striving to rewrite the record books when staying local in Hacienda Heights to play at Los Altos.
Hear Jarod tell it, “My father and grandpa helped influence me to always be a good man. I want to be a college coach because of them. My goal is to study Kinesiology in college, and after graduating play pro ball.
“I learned to appreciate at an early age to count my blessings, believe in God. A higher power is responsible for creating skills in me and through prayer and dedication I could feel limitless in my dreams.
“Setting that record was great. I was proud my whole family, my town was there watching me pass Casey Jacobsen’s career scoring record. Even though there was an empty seat where my grandpa would’ve sat, he was watching me that night.
“I felt Richard’s spirit there. He told me over and over my entire youth, ‘Take it to the hole Jarod, put your head down son, and just take it home’. So that’s what I’ve been doing. I would let nothing stop me in that final game.”
Hear Jarod’s dad Jeff speak on how proud he is of his boy, “CIF has been around for like a 100 years, 100,000’s of players. To separate yourself with that distinction [breaking the record] is miraculous. It speaks highly of his desire, his wanting it, sacrificing for it.
“Jarod’s leadership by example got our talented squad to believe they could be their best. I didn’t quite realize if the state record was reachable when he mentioned it in preseason. I didn’t crunch the numbers well and it all seemed far away.
“But as Jarod took off on a tear to start the season, the look in his eyes, he made me a believer. We added a showcase game vs. JW North to give him more opportunities to score more for the record.
“I realized I had to support his dream of getting this done. I’ve always told him as a dad and coach to do one thing, ‘Just be smart’. He has taken that advice to heart, he has made us all so very proud.”
Medically speaking, they say when you put your 2 hands together it shows the physical representation of how big the size of your beating heart is, inside your chest. Then J must have monster hands, like the size of Kawhi Leonard fosho.
His heart for the game is big, his heart for friends, BIGGER.
Why? Hear from Jarod’s proud mom Tina, what Jarod was taught, “We all reminded Jarod to be fierce on the court but act like a gentleman off it. I’ll never forget Jarod’s first varsity game, he hit a game winner to beat La Mirada.
“He looked up at me right after the game and said, ‘Did you feel grandpa just now, did you see his spirit like I did? He was there with me mom as I took that last shot, he’s here.’
“Jarod is always there for others. When his dear friend and ex-teammate Julian Lopez, who is playing at Cal St East Bay, had open heart surgery in September, Jarod dropped everything to be by his side. For as good a player that he strives to be, he strives to be a better friend and son, because he keeps the Lord in his heart.”
Back to that final game. Real talk? J was like Hercules on earth in that contest. 100.
How E-Woods? West Covina coach Jeff Garcia started out assigning double teams on Jarod from the get go, maybe signaling “Not for you tonight Jarod, we got your ticket to prevent that record.”
But J was like step back dagger, he went Kobe mode, like Kobe did vs Toronto with 81 points. Cold blooded, trey after trey, Jarod rubbing off screens, punching his way through a mountain of humanity. Flesh could not stop this man of steel, J was simply out to perform an inhuman task.
But hold on, after half time West Covina goes to a full court press on Jarod. 10 eyeballs on him at all times as they constantly triple teamed him at times, even throwing four and five defenders on him at a time, hanging on him, grabbing, pulling, harassing, whatever it took to stop him from scoring it seemed.
Jarod’s mission? Mission impossible: get this for Richard, for everyone.
https://twitter.com/SGVNSports/status/1090466514124210177
Last time I’ve heard of this kind of super human effort, overcoming adversity? June 11, 1997. Not known as MJ’s healthy game, it’s remembered for him epically overcoming the flu. So thanks for being Jarod’s flu, West Covina, thank you to all the haters that helped him be cold blooded and accomplish 52 points in that final game.
#Mamba Mentality
The smoke clears, final score Los Altos 97, their opponent 58. Jarod? Collapse, tears in his eyes a lil, pointing his finger toward the heavens for grandpa Richard, but what else could make it more special?
How about they surprise you completely, as Jarod had no idea: they begin your freakin jersey retirement, right there and then. What? Does it get any better? Beyond drop the mic 100 times, beyond putting a 1,000 cherries on top.
Jarod? Just a 6-3, 180 lb young man from Los Altos. Story over? No, It’s just the beginning.
I ask Jarod, what do you want to do at Oregon St. next year? He says, “Just help contribute as a freshman.”
I’m always pressing my subjects so I suggest to Jarod, do you want to see a career like Gary Payton Jr, even though your style is more JJ Redick, and J says “Why not.” I say, do you think you can make it to the NBA, and J says, “Why not.”
Is Jarod the last true gym rat on earth maybe? Dude reps Chris Mullin’s work ethic, committing himself to making 500 jumpers a day in the Summer, 300 a day all other seasons.
Who is that real one that’s been there for Jarod? J tells me a name to quote, reminds me that besides his family members, this man deserves immense credit for pushing and refining his skills.
His trainer Olin Simplis.
How much does O believe in Jarod? I don’t possess the words to do justice on how Olin Simplis feels about Jarod, like his own nephew, because O pushed Jarod the same way he pushed another young high school age client: Spencer Dinwiddie, now an NBA star.
I personally saw how Olin ran J to exhaustion in training sessions. Why? Because Olin cared that much to support Jarod’s dream, was happy to see Oregon State assistant coach Stevie Thompson recruit and offer a scholly to Jarod.
Olin knew that S-Thompson was an absolute beast for Syracuse back in the day and was confident that he could bring out the beast in J-Lucas in college!
The next person to break that crazy career scoring record?
Might it be a kid born in 2019? Might it be another of Olin’s clients, maybe freshman phenom Skyy Clark from Heritage Christian High? That guy that can score like crazy, he has no limit on his potential. Skyy was happy to talk and congratulate Jarod earlier in the week.
What’s the bond between Jarod and his trainer Olin that powered this effort to break records? O and J have been training together since his sophomore year. Olin says of him, “I’m just glad I was able to help create a bridge of belief in Jarod.
“Every time he heard, ‘You’re just a mid-major’, I reminded him that it goes without saying you’ve put in the work to meet your goal of accomplishing the scoring record, be a high major. Jarod’s not a small guard, he’s 6-3 with a lot of skills. If he keeps working hard and developing his game, I see him being a pro, like a first or second round NBA draft pick.
“I’m proud to have seen my other clients, who I feel are more like nephews, like Spencer Dinwiddie reach their potential. That’s how much I believe in Jarod. He’s a great kid. We’ve exposed him to high level players in our training sessions that he competed with.
“It could’ve been easy for Jarod to switch to another high school program, be just a piece in a high powered/loaded team. But through it all he just believed in those who coached him, allowed himself to be well coached.
“He showed that no matter what he would be recruited at a high level because we just did all we could do together to put him in that situation.”
IG @olinsimplis
What’s dope? Olin got Jarod in the lab with his elite college players he was already grindin’ with, like Clipper Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and UCLA’s Kris Wilkes. Olin would even travel out to Los Altos on weekdays to train the whole Conquistador team.
I’ll let Jarod explain, “Olin has been more than a trainer. He’s that guy with specific knowledge on how to help get me there, and more importantly Olin pushed me, never let me listen to the voices out there that said I was just a mid major.
“Olin always telling me to give it my all in any training session or game, be that in my AAU games for our Compton Magic team. Olin taught me that you can’t run away from bad habits, you have to embrace the grind. That’s the only way to excel. I appreciate him so much, he’s responsible for elevating my game no doubt.”
http://OlinSimplisTraining.com
Some kids after breaking a scoring record like Jarod did might go out to celebrate by going to Disneyland, or kicking back. Not Jarod, who is always looking to get better. I reminded Jarod about the best open runs in LA called Air West, filled with Drew League soldiers and legends, NBA pros, overseas killer players.
It’s all run and organized by Keion Kindred and Chris Young, that uber dope place that conducts its runs in a secret location every Wednesday. Jarod said no matter how tired he was, he has the energy to go there.
He told me, “It’d be dope to take on that challenge.”
It’s all in the day in the life of a really cool kid. I wish everyone had a chance to get to know Jarod like I have. Jarod’s future destination after breaking that record? Jarod is well on his way to a town called, Limitless, USA.
